Canada’s Top Newspaper Says the End of Meat is Near

A recent analysis published on the front page of Canadian-based news outlet National Post examined the imminent downfall of animal agriculture. Writer Claire Brownell centers the discussion around companies that are creating viable alternatives to animal farming including Bill Gates-backed Impossible Foods, Memphis Meats, Mosa Meat, SuperMeat, and Perfect Day. “Demographic forces are putting the livestock industry and those who depend on it in a precarious position,” Brownell says. “Raising a cow is a very inefficient way to make food.” Brownell presents a host of factors—including steadily decreasing per capita meat consumption, innovations in cultured meat technology, and awareness of the environmental destruction caused by the animal agriculture industry—that indicate that the climate for the replacement of animal meat with animal-free alternatives is ripe. “The companies that are able to adapt to these changing regulatory environments and changing consumer tastes will be the ones who started experimenting early,” Director of the Food Institute at Guelph University Evan Fraser says. “I worry for my friends in the beef industry.” While Brownwell believes that meat will still be on the menu in coming years, she concludes the analysis with the statement, “Now that an animal-free burger that actually tastes good is no longer impossible, it’s easier to imagine a world without meat.”